Long Distance
by gleewinchester
Summary: When Ryan and Jess begin their long distance relationship, will it bring Nick and Jess back together?
1. 4am

**I'm back, this time with what will hopefully be a multi-chapter full-length fic. I promise. Maybe. …Anyway, I've had ideas for a fic like this for a while now so I'm just going to start it and see where it leads. **

**Enjoy x**

Nick stumbled out of bed, his head pounding from the hangover that had greeted him. He glanced groggily at the clock, seeing 4:00 am in a blur of red. As he ran his hand over his forehead, he saw a light in the apartment kitchen.

Naturally, Nick would've grabbed "The House Defensive Bat," or better yet called for Coach, yet hangovers were not great motivators. So, instead, he wandered into the kitchen.

There, he found Jess sitting on a red stool in her pink robe that he knew all too well. He couldn't ignore the fact that she had a pint of Ben &amp; Jerry's ice cream on the counter, and there were approximately three different sizes of spoons surrounding it.

"Look, I'm pretty much in poor judgment right now but I've seen you eat more balanced breakfasts."

Nick's voice startled Jess and she jumped up, her bedhead hair mimicking her sudden movement.

"Jesus, Miller. Since when do you wake up earlier than 2 in the afternoon?"

He strode over to the refrigerator, grabbing some bacon.

"Seriously, Nick. It's 4am."

Nick grabbed the half empty ice cream carton. "Says Miss Phish Food," he said mockingly.

This resulted in Jess snatching back the pint from Nick and rolling her eyes.

Quietly, she muttered, "London has ice cream parlors. Maybe Ryan's at an ice cream parlor right now…"

Nick turned his attention away from the stove. After his bar marathon, he had completely forgotten about Ryan and Jess establishing their long distance relationship. Feeling like an ignorant idiot, Nick tried to rescue the situation.

"No, no you don't know that Jess. Maybe Ryan hates ice cream! Maybe he's lactose intolerant! Hell, maybe the thought of you eating it makes him sick!"

Jess, dumbfounded by Nick's incredible failure at cheering her up, grabbed her ice cream and slid off of her stool.

Nick had to urge to smack himself over the head with the frying pan, or perhaps slamming the refrigerator door would be enough to punish him.

Before he could say anything even more ignorant, Jess turned around and exclaimed, "I was _this_ close! I was _so_ close to finally getting a shot at something real, okay Nick? Do you understand how badly I wanted to move in with Ryan? It's like he – he was my chance at a start and now there's this huge mess of a delay that I can't avoid."

Nick couldn't tell if it was the early hour that hardened the impact of what she had said or if it was actually reality.

"I didn't realize that living here was such a burden, Jessica."

Jess sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"No. No, Nick. That's not what I meant, I just –" She decided she couldn't find the words, and resulted in shrugging her shoulders, defeated.

Nick shook his head and offered a small, but reassuring smile.

"Get some sleep, Day."

With that, Jess surrendered and retired to her bedroom. Sleep wouldn't come, however, thanks to Ryan. And, now, thanks to Nick.


	2. Without You

**Wow, I'm kind of eager aren't I? You already get another chapter. Lucky people. Fair warning: this is extremely slow. I have a clear ending for this story and a whole saga of events that will unfold, but I am figuring out how to get there – which is kind of a challenge. Wow – that's writing, isn't it! Anyway, I hope you enjoy these little chapters before we get to the good stuff.**

**Ok, proceed x**

By the time Jess came out of her room, the apartment was quiet and the sun was streaming through the few windows.

"Guys?"

Suddenly, she was caught off guard by an overwhelming embrace from none other than Schmidt.

"Long distance. Can work," he whispered as he tightened the hug.

"Subtle Schmidt. Insanely, subtle," Winston said from the couch.

"Douchebag jar," Nick called over his shoulder from the kitchen.

Schmidt tried to reverse the hug with an effort that was extremely over compensating.

Jess, recovering from the unnecessary greeting she had been subject to, retaliated, "I'm fine, guys. Really! I'm great. I had time to think it over –"

Schmidt looked Jess up and down, observing that she was still in her robe and she looked more frazzled than ever.

"Not enough time for a fashion choice though –"

Nick whacked Schmidt over the back of the head in response to his superficial comment.

He felt like he needed to say something after their confrontation earlier that morning.

"Jess. We're here for ya. We always have been, okay? This whole thing with Ryan, it's going to blow over and he'll be back in no time. Cause he'll realize he can't live without you," Nick said maybe too confidently.

Winston raised an eyebrow, alluding to Nick that his approach might have been too affectionate.

"How poetic Nicholas," Schmidt said.

Jess still had remained silent, and starting fiddling with her robe.

Winston decided to break the awkward exchange.

"Schmidt and I have to – uh – we have to go have relations."

Nick saw an opportunity for comedy and couldn't let it pass. "I always knew you too would end up together. Congrats, buddy."

This managed to earn a giggle from Jess, which resulted in a smile in her direction from Nick.

Schmidt, not catching on, replied, "Winston, is there something you need to come clean about? We are living in very open and liberal times right now. Yes, the great Mitt Romney is not at the helm so you are very lucky to be able to express this thing you are feeling. Go ahead, man."

Winston stood up from the couch in frustration. "I meant relations with the opposite sex - other people."

Schmidt said, "Speak for yourself brother, I'm doing just fine. Ask Cecelia."

With this, Winston grabbed Schmidt's arm and dragged him down the hall.

"I'm creating – a diversion – so Nick and Jess – can TALK," Winston hissed through gritted teeth.

Nick and Jess watched them leave until they were left alone.

Nick was the first one to speak, "Wow. What a – uh – exit."

Jess nodded, "Extremely suave. Flawlessly conducted really."

Suddenly they both found words to say at the same time.

"Abou-," Jess started.

"So this mor-," Nick attempted.

Nick walked towards Jess. "Ladies first, right?"

Jess exclaimed, "Nick, what I said about living here with you and the guys….I didn't mean that I would rather live with Ryan. And I know, I know that's what it sounded like, but you know that this is home for me."

Nick nodded and cleared his throat, "Great. Great. Well, by the way, what I said about Ryan not being able to live without you – I was role-playing Ryan. You know, like that's what _he_ would say if _he_ realized that."

Nick shifted into a poor, cockney British accent, "Good day, Jessica, I bloody can't live without you. Like fish and chips and the gov'na. Well, that's that. Cheerios!"

Jess laughed, "Cheerio, you mean."

Nick nodded confidently, "Yeah, like the cereal, I'm not stupid. Plural or singular it's the same difference!"

Jess decided to let him believe the origin of the British expression.

"I just wanted to clarify that you didn't think it was – it was _me_, saying that."

Jess shook her head. "Why would I think that, Miller? We're friends, remember? Like the friends we were before we had that mind-blowingly awesome sex!"

Nick raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Mind-blowingly awesome, uh? Wow, I should have that put in an ad. Vote Nick Miller, for mind-blowingly –"

Jess cut him off, "Okay, calm down. The benefits are no longer in effect."

They both laughed.

"See, look at that. You're not even thinking about Ryan!" Nick said.

Jess's face immediately sunk and so did Nick's expression as a result.

Unexpectedly, she managed to resurrect her smile. She couldn't let Nick think that he was at fault again for bringing her down, not when he had been trying so hard to cheer her up. She surrendered to his undeniable efforts.

"Yeah, I'm not."

Nick felt a sense of victory that he was told to suppress; yet he couldn't.

**Sorry if I'm relying heavily on dialogue right now as opposed to action, I promise I will get there soon. Also…I'm not sure if I will be writing Coach into this story, I don't know if I actually feel like writing him in – sorry! Besides that, please leave a review and tell me if you hate everything or if you can't live without more – that was an exaggeration but you get my point.**

**Thanks **


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